May 31
Rain promised. Occasionally delivered in small amounts.
Useless pin and chip cards. We have several. None work on the train system. None. No trouble with the wireless credit card. Have not seen apple or Android pay.
A day of contrasts. First a visit to Pistoia, and then a Puccini arias concert in a very bright church, church of San Giovanni
Pistoia Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistoia
As we travel from most to least touristed we find Pistoia mostly deserted and closed. Duomo does not open until 15:00. Few people in the square, us and a few others.
San Zeno of Verona is the namesake of the Duomo here. 10 th century with lots of further work.
Another old architecturally interesting church: San Bartolomeo
In summary: Pistoia is a good 3.5 to 4 hour visit.
Rice torta, rice with creme, local speciality. Thought it would be lemon until I tasted it. Was on the breakfast table.
Puccini, from Lucca, concert of arias from operas. Program can be found on Flickr account. The venue, a small cathedral with bare walls, no thing at all to absorb sound, is to say the least bright. In a good way.
The soloists were singing at partial throttle. The soprano was singing with her arms lightly crossed as it was effortless; indeed it sounded effortless and clear.
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